Antalya Trip Planning & Itineraries

4:28 AM Saturday, Sep 6
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Set on the Gulf of Antalya (Antalya Körfezi), this burgeoning city commands a superb position overlooking a sweeping beach towards the soaring Bey Mountains (Beydağlarij). Sophisticated, liberal Antalya has all the amenities of big city life - fine museums, restaurants, bars and clubs - but has also preserved the charming old quarter of Kaleiçi, whose walls once repelled raiders but now serve to keep traffic out of its narrow streets and courtyards.

Though always a busy port (trading with Crete, Cyprus and Egypt), Antalya has grown explosively since the 1960s.

Antalya Highlights

Start your sightseeing at the Yivli Minare, just downhill from Antalya's impossible-to-miss clock tower. This handsome and unique minaret was erected by the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I in the early 13th century, next to a church that the sultan had converted to a mosque. It is now the Güzel Sanatlar Galerisi (Fine Arts Gallery) with changing exhibits.

To its northwest is a Mevlevi tekke (whirling dervish monastery) which probably dates from the 13th century; and nearby are two tombs, those of Zincirkijran Mehmet Bey (built 1377) and the lady Nigar Hatun.